Flexible Spending Accounts

Transcription

1 Flexible Spending Accounts State of Oregon PEBB offers both healthcare and dependent care flexible spending accounts (FSAs) for eligible employees. An FSA is a tax-free account that allows you to use pre-tax dollars to pay for eligible out-of-pocket healthcare or dependent care expenses. You choose an annual amount to contribute to your account, and your payroll deducts your salary contribution before calculating your taxes. Paying for eligible expenses with these pre-tax dollars saves money. Here are things you should know about these accounts. FSAs operate according to IRS regulations. Enrollment in an FSA terminates at the end of each plan year. To have an FSA in the following plan year you must enroll before the start of the new plan year, generally this is during the Open Enrollment period. When you enroll, you enroll for the entire plan year, your enrollment is irrevocable except for limited situations. So you should plan accordingly. You may change your contribution amount midyear only within 30 days of a qualified midyear change event. You forfeit any funds that you don t use and claim for valid expenses by the deadline. Your payroll will deduct even portions of your annual election amount each month over the course of the year. You can only have one contribution per month to your FSA account. Expenses for a Domestic Partner cannot be reimbursed The health FSA period of coverage is the plan year. The exception is for employees who terminate participation, in which case it means the portion of the plan year before the active participation end date. Active participation in a health FSA ends the last day of the month that a last contribution is deducted by payroll for that month. a. An Oregon State Payroll System employee terminating employment will not have final contribution taken from their final paycheck. b. An Oregon University (OUS) employee terminating employment who meets the 80-hour work termination rule will have a contribution taken from their final paycheck. Reimbursement of eligible expenses may occur only for the period of coverage in which your participation was active, provided the claim is filed within the eligible plan year, including the grace period. The exception is a dependent care FSA from which you request reimbursement of expenses incurred in the month following the end of participation and the request is in the current plan year (not the grace period) and made within 90 days of the participation end date. You cannot use your FSA funds as reimbursement for expenses you incur after you leave employment with the state. The exception is a health care FSA that you continue by enrolling in COBRA. PEBB contracts with to administer the FSA program under PEBB administrative rules and in keeping with IRS regulations. Healthcare flexible spending account A healthcare flexible spending account is an allowable benefit of a Cafeteria Plan as defined in Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code. It permits eligible employees to contribute pre-tax to an account for reimbursement of certain healthcare expenses. Deductions from your paycheck to the plan are exempt from federal and state income tax and Social Security tax. These deductions reduce your taxable income reported on your W-2 and on your income tax returns. Note that reducing your taxable income may have the effect of reducing your total Social Security benefit earnings. 66

2 You may elect to have up to $2,500 deducted from your pay during the year. The minimum monthly contribution amount is $ Administrator administers PEBB s healthcare flexible spending account program. The customer service department is open from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time Monday through Friday, and from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday. Contact: (800) ; TTY (866) ; fax (866) ; asi@asiflex.com. Website Mailing Address: PO Box 6044 Columbia, MO Physical Address: 201 W. Broadway #4C Columbia, MO To Participate: 1. Estimate your family s annual out-of-pocket medical expenses. You may include expenses for anyone included on your federal tax return. Include predictable expenses only. Divide your annual out-of-pocket medical expense estimate by the number of months you expect to receive paychecks during the Plan Year. 2. Enroll in the healthcare FSA. Enroll online during Open Enrollment or by submitting a paper form to PEBB. If you become eligible to enroll midyear submit your forms to PEBB. 3. Receive healthcare services. You incur expense when you receive the services or supplies that create the expense. You can file a claim for healthcare services only after you receive the services. 4. File claims. After you receive the healthcare services and know the amount of your responsibility for the bill, submit a claim (with required substantiation) for those expenses to. See the web site for additional information about eligible reimbursements. 5. Receive reimbursements. will review your claim. If approves the claim, it will reimburse you for the healthcare expenses within one business day of receipt of the claim. Qualifying Healthcare Expenses include only those expenses that are defined as medical expenses in Internal Revenue Code 213 and are not reimbursed by any other insurance or another plan. As stated in 213, qualifying Medical Care Expenses include amounts incurred for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, and for treatments affecting any part or function of the body. The expenses must be primarily to alleviate or prevent a physical or mental defect or illness. They exclude all insurance premiums, long-term care expenses, and cosmetic expenses. Refer to IRS Publication 502 for further details on qualifying expenses. You may link to this publication from 's Website. The purpose of Publication 502 is to assist people with their income tax filing. It does not address healthcare flexible spending account plans. However, most of the items listed as deductible in Publication 502 can be claimed through your healthcare FSA. You cannot deduct on your income tax return expenses reimbursed by the 67

3 healthcare flexible spending account plan. You cannot file for healthcare FSA expense reimbursements for expenses you deduct on your income tax return. You can only claim expenses based on the date incurred or date of service (not paid as stated in Publication 502). Contact at (800) if you have any questions regarding particular expenses. Below is a partial list of qualified expenses. Deductibles Coinsurance amounts and co-pays Doctor s fees Dental expenses Vision care expenses Prescription glasses Contact lenses and solutions Corrective eye surgery Prescription drugs and medicines (not imported from another country) used to treat a medical condition Insulin Orthodontia (braces) Routine physicals Medical equipment Hearing aids, including batteries Transportation expenses related to illness Chiropractor s fees Over-the-counter drugs for which you have a prescription This is a partial list of expenses that do not quality. Cosmetic procedures; e.g. face-lifts, skin peeling, teeth whitening, veneers, hair replacement, removal of spider veins Sunglasses - non-prescription Toiletries Medicines, drugs, herbs, or vitamins for general health and not used to treat a specific medical condition Expenses that are merely beneficial to your general health (e.g., vacations and vitamins) Health club dues (not prescribed for a particular condition) Any sort of insurance premiums Warranties Long-term care expenses Prescription drugs imported from another country Debit Card The FSA administrator,, offers a debit card for use in the healthcare flexible spending account program. Use of this debit card may reduce the amount of paperwork required in substantiating some claims. It will not eliminate the need to substantiate all claims. See the Website 68

4 Coverage Continuation COBRA. To the extent required by COBRA, participants and those covered on the participants tax return may elect to continue the coverage elected under the healthcare flexible spending account plan. This applies even if the participant s election to receive benefits expired or ended under the following circumstances (qualifying events): The participant dies The participant s employment is terminated (other than for gross misconduct) or the participant s paid work hours are reduced The participant divorces or becomes legally separated The participant s dependent child ceases to be a dependent under the terms of this plan When the plan is notified that one of the events has occurred, the plan will provide to each eligible person the right to choose continuation coverage if, on the date of the qualifying event, the participant s remaining benefits for the current Plan Year are greater than the participant s remaining contribution payments. The right to elect to continue ends 60 days from the date the plan administrator provides notice of the right to continue coverage. It is the responsibility of the participant or a responsible family member to inform the administrator of the occurrence of an event described above. Continuation coverage will not extend beyond the end of the current Plan Year or Grace Period. Continuation coverage may terminate earlier if the premiums are not paid within 30 days of their due dates. Payment for expenses incurred during any period of continuation will not be made until the administrator receives the contributions for that period. An administrative charge of two percent is assessed for each premium paid for continuation coverage. Protected leave. Persons on protected leave may maintain their healthcare FSA. Protected leave includes leave through Continuation of Group Medical and Dental Insurance Coverage for Injured Workers (CBIW), Active Military Duty, and the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Participants may make payment to their healthcare FSA as follows: Paid leave. Through pre-tax salary reduction Unpaid leave: Pre-tax out of pre-leave compensation Submit prepay requests to PEBB on the appropriate form. QRD - Qualified Reservist Distribution Conditions. You must meet the following conditions to elect a qualified reservist distribution (QRD) from your healthcare flexible spending account (FSA): You have made contributions to your FSA that exceed plan-year reimbursements on the date of your QRD request. You are ordered or called to active military duty for a period of at least 180 days or for an indefinite period by reason of being a member of the Army National Guard of the United States, the Army Reserve, the Navy Reserve, the Marine Corps Reserve, the Air National Guard of the United States, the Air Force Reserve, the Coast Guard Reserve, or the Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service. You have provided the Administrator with a copy of the order or call to active duty. An order or call to active duty of less than 180 days duration must be supplemented by subsequent calls or orders to reach a total of 180 or more days. You are ordered or called to active military duty on or after the beginning of the plan year that began Jan. 1, You submit to the Administrator a QRD election form during the period beginning on the date of your order or call to active duty and ending on the last day of the Plan Year (or grace period) during which the order or call 69

5 occurred. For example, if you are called to active duty on Sept. 13, 2009, you must request the QRD between Sept. 13, 2009, and March 31, 2010.(for the 2009 plan year only) Amount. If you meet these conditions, you will receive a QRD equal to your plan-year contributions to your FSA as of the date of your request, minus any reimbursements you already received as of that date. Example: You elected FSA benefits of $1,000 for the plan year. During the first six months of the plan year, you make FSA contributions of $500 and receive reimbursements of $200 for substantiated medical care expenses. If you request a QRD upon being called to active duty for an indefinite period on June 30, you would receive a distribution of $300. Further Reimbursement and Account Status. When you request a QRD, you forfeit the right to receive reimbursements for medical care expenses incurred during the period that begins on the date of your request and ends on the last day of the plan year. Your FSA terminates as of the date you request a QRD. Tax Treatment. Your QRD will be included in your gross income and will be reported as wages on your Form W- 2for the year in which it is paid to you. 70

6 Dependent Care flexible spending account A dependent care flexible spending account is an allowable benefit of a Cafeteria Plan as defined in Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code. It permits eligible employees to contribute pre-tax to an account for reimbursement of certain dependent care expenses provided to a qualifying individual by a qualified provider. Deductions from your paycheck to the plan are exempt from federal and state income tax and Social Security tax. These deductions reduce your taxable income reported on your W-2 and on your income tax returns. Note that reducing your taxable income may have the effect of reducing your total Social Security benefit earnings. You may contribute up to $5,000 per year to a dependent care flexible spending account. The minimum monthly contribution is $ If you and your spouse (not Domestic Partner) both contribute to an account, your combined yearly contribution may not be more than $5,000. A dependent care flexible spending account is an alternative to taking a tax credit allowed with your tax filing each year. You may receive a tax break on your expenses, but you must choose whether to use the tax credit or the dependent care flexible spending account. The IRS will not allow you to receive two tax breaks on the same expenses. Generally, employees with a higher income have a higher percentage tax break through the dependent care flexible spending account. Contact your tax advisor if you have questions about which is best for you. Administrator administers PEBB s dependent care flexible spending account program. The customer service department is open from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time Monday through Friday, and from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday. Contact: (800) ; TTY (866) ; fax (866) ; asi@asiflex.com. Website Mailing Address: PO Box 6044 Columbia, MO Physical Address: 201 W. Broadway #4C Columbia, MO To Participate 1. Estimate your total dependent care expenses for the Plan Year. Include predictable expenses only. Divide your yearly dependent care expenses estimate by the number of months you expect to receive paychecks during the Plan Year. 2. Enroll in the dependent care flexible spending account. Enroll online during Open Enrollment or by submitting a paper form to PEBB. If you become eligible to enroll midyear submit the form to PEBB. 3. Receive Dependent care services. You incur expenses when you receive the services that create the expense. You can file a claim for dependent care services only after you receive the services. 4. File claims. After you have received the dependent care services, submit a claim for those expenses (with required substantiation) to. 71

7 5. Receive reimbursements. will review your claim. If approves the claim, it will reimburse you for the dependent care expenses within one business day of receipt of the claim up to the amount you have on deposit in your account. If your claim exceeds your available funds, will record the difference and will pay as funds become available from payroll. A qualifying individual is: Your dependent who is under the age of 13 who lives with you at least one half of the year Your spouse or an older dependent who is mentally or physically incapable of self-care who resides with you for more than one half of the year and is a qualifying child or relative under Section 152 of the IRS Code A qualified provider can provide care in your home or outside your home. If the care is provided outside your home by a facility that cares for more than five individuals, it must be licensed by the State. The expenses may not be paid to your spouse, a child of yours who is under the age of 19 at the end of the year in which the expenses are incurred, or to an individual for whom you or your spouse is entitled to a personal tax exemption as a dependent. 72